Secrets of the Job Hunt

Thursday, October 09, 2008

New jobs are in store for Wichita in 2009, according to economist at the Wichita State University Center for Economic Development and Business Research (CEDBR). Despite the fact that jobs are being shed across the nation, the Center predicts that the city’s job market will grow by 6,095 opportunities.

According to the Center’s annual economic forecast, Wichita will have what they called “modest broad-based expansion”. Rob Allison, who is the interim director of the CEDBR, said that this is, in part, due to the fact that the aircraft manufacturing companies will be continuing to work through their backlogs of orders.

Allison also believes that the stable housing market, which has yet to feel the effects of the national housing market, will also help to make this possible. He went on to say that most sectors will continue to experience job growth.

According to him, the financial crisis that has been wreaking havoc across the nation has “not significantly spilled over into out local economy.” Because of this, the area continue to thrive while others are suffering.

The CEDBR survey 35 business leaders and found that no major liquidity issues are occurring in Wichita. Despite this, companies have reported that they have seen that creditors are now making their underwriting standards more stringent.

Unemployment statistics also show that the city is fairing better than most of the nation, despite the fact that it’s jobless rate is up when compared to the previous year. According to the U.S. Labor Department, only 4.6 percent of residents in Wichita were without work in August. During the same month in 2007, only 4 percent of the population were claiming unemployment benefits. Nationally, the unemployment rate hit 6.1 percent in August.